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Derbyshire’s captain and leading batsman Wayne Madsen has signed a contract extension that will keep him at the club for another three years

ESPNcricinfo staff08-Nov-2013Derbyshire have received a fillip ahead of their return to Division Two of the Championship next season with the news that captain and leading batsman Wayne Madsen has signed a contract extension that will keep him at the club for another three years.Madsen had attracted interest from other counties after finishing the 2013 season as the second leading run-scorer in Division One, despite Derbyshire’s relegation. He was the first batsman to pass 1000 runs in the Championship and ended the season with a clutch of awards, including the Cricket Writers’ Club County Player of the Year and the inaugural CMJ Spirit of Cricket Award.The 29-year-old, who was born in South Africa, has been with Derbyshire since 2009. He led them to promotion and the Division Two title in his first season as captain and almost marshalled an unlikely escape this year, as Derbyshire went into the final round with hopes of survival intact.”I’m proud to have signed a new contract with Derbyshire,” Madsen said. “I’ve thoroughly enjoyed my five years here so far. It’s a fantastic club with great ambition. We’ve taken great strides over the past couple of seasons and I believe we can continue to make progress and hopefully compete for titles on all fronts.”Derbyshire have had to tighten their belts since relegation was confirmed, with Dave Houghton leaving his post as batting consultant, but they have retained pace bowler Mark Footitt, while overseas player Shivnarine Chanderpaul will return for the second year of his contract in 2014. Former Nottinghamshire batsman Scott Elstone has also joined, while Ben Slater has been offered a one-year deal after initially being told the club could not afford to.Madsen was under contract until 2015 but Derbyshire’s head coach, Karl Krikken, was understandably pleased to have secured a further commitment.”Wayne enjoyed a magnificent campaign last season and we’re delighted to have him here for the foreseeable future,” Krikken said. “As well as tremendous performances with the bat, Wayne led the side really well as we tackled Division One for the first time. To be the first player to 1000 runs, plus all the other accolades, was a real bonus to Wayne and the club.”Other clubs wanted him, of course they did, but it’s important to keep hold of our top players if we want to push to win trophies. I’m delighted we’ve been able to do this with Wayne.”

The lips said one thing; the eyes quite another. Alastair Cook, as is his way, led from the front after England’s harrowing defeat in Adelaide. He faced the media with the same undemonstrative determination with which he faces the new ball. He didn’t shir

George Dobell at Adelaide Oval09-Dec-20130:00

‘Worst England performance in a long time’

The lips said one thing; the eyes quite another.Alastair Cook, as is his way, led from the front after England’s harrowing defeat in Adelaide. He faced the media with the same undemonstrative determination with which he faces the new ball. He didn’t shirk or make excuses. He never does.He spoke well, too. He spoke of fight and belief. He admitted faults and accepted responsibility. He was deeply impressive.But the eyes told another story. They told a tale of shock and disappointment and pain and exhaustion. They suggested that even he didn’t quite believe what he was saying. Amid the call to arms was the unmistakable hint of doubt. Cook has an innate honesty that would render him a hopeless politician.”We’ve been outplayed,” Cook said. “We haven’t played very well. You can’t get away from that. It’s hurting us like hell. It’s certainly not impossible [that we can retain the Ashes]. A lot of people will probably give us no chance. But if we don’t believe that in our dressing room, if we believe the urn has gone, then it might as well have gone.”Do we have the will? It’s a good question. Sometimes, when you haven’t been playing well, that’s one thing you start looking at: whether we do have that. I can only say, from speaking to the guys, and watching them – how much this is hurting – that we do. Only the guys will know that inside themselves. But I honestly believe we’ve got that.”Self-belief is certainly an issue you need to make sure you look after when you’ve lost heavily in two games. If we don’t believe it, then no one else is going to believe it. That’s the simple deal. We’ve got to look deep into our souls, deep into our hearts, and turn it round. We can’t mope about giving it the ‘poor me’. It’s whether we can drag a performance out of ourselves. We’ve got players who have scored a lot of runs, players who have taken a lot of wickets. We need to stand up and do that.”It does not help that Cook’s own form is poor. His record suggests – it all but insists – that he will find a way through the mire, but England – feeling the loss of Jonathan Trott as a building misses a supporting beam – can afford no delay. And he knows it more than anyone.”We’ve been outplayed. We haven’t played very well” – Alastair Cook•PA Photos”I need to score more runs,” he said. “We all do. But there are only so many times you can tell the lads to do it. And if you’re not doing it yourself, it makes it harder.”I’m there at the top of the order as a batter and in the last two games I haven’t been scoring enough runs. I need to go and change that. You can get good balls sometimes as an opener, and you can play poor shots. In this game I’ve got a good ball and played a poor shot.”There are some very tough moments for the captain and we’re in the middle of one. We’re 2-0 down and I’m responsible as the captain for that. I’m leading the troops out there. It hits you hard.”England veered off course in this game long before they batted, though. By squandering several chances in the field – it is hard to recall a worse fielding display by an England side in the last decade – they wasted the opportunity of bowling Australia out for around 350. From then on, they were tired, dispirited and frustrated. Punch drunk, perhaps.”On a good first-innings wicket, we created some chances and we didn’t take those chances. Australia have been very clinical in taking every chance that has come to them. We haven’t done that. We let them off the hook and they punished us very heavily.”Quite clearly getting bowled out for 170 wasn’t good enough. And there were some poor shots in there as well. We have to be honest with ourselves.”It is hard to be optimistic for England. The next Test is in Perth, where their record is so grim that the squeamish should look away now: in 12 Tests at the ground, England have lost eight and won once. That was in 1978, when Australia were forced to field a virtual second XI due to World Series Cricket. Since 1991, England have lost all six Tests at the venue.”Our record there is of total irrelevance to this team,” Cook said. “We have to go there as this side in 2013 and deliver something very special, otherwise we’re not going to do what we’ve come to do.”Following their media responsibilities, the team had a long meeting in the changing room at the ground. It must have smarted that, even while they were picking through the bones of the most wretched England performance for several years – in other defeats, the batting has been at fault; here all three facets of the game began to crumble – they could hear the team song echoing from their Australian conquerors.The atmosphere in the England dressing room was later described as “honest.” Suffice to say, there is more than a little anger and frustration that, even in the second innings with a Test to save, four batsmen fell to hooks or pulls, one more hit a full toss to mid-on and not one was dismissed by a delivery that would have hit the stumps. England’s batsmen are making life much too easy for Australia’s bowlers and not giving their own a chance.England were woeful on the final day. They could have tried to keep Australia in the field in an attempt to tire their bowlers ahead of Perth. They could have tried to occupy the crease with a view to the rain saving them later in the day.Instead they thrashed around in a display of macho posturing that proved nothing about their ability to withstand the short bowling they will continue to be tested by this series. Some cheap runs were scored. Some cheap wickets fell. It was no consolation.But there are, if you look hard, a couple of areas of encouragement for England. Most of their top-order have shown that they are capable of withstanding the barrage – Michael Carberry, Ian Bell, Joe Root and Kevin Pietersen and even Cook have made half-centuries – and the bowling has remained respectable if impotent. If they can hold their catches and string some individual scores together, there is plenty of room for improvement.But his tour may well be remembered as a bridge too far for this England team. Flogged to exhaustion by a cricket board whose obsession with the bottom line has obscured the damage they are doing to the long-term future, several of this team have arrived with too many miles on the clock. Graeme Swann and James Anderson, revealed, have bowled more deliveries in Test cricket than anyone in the world since the start of the 2010-11 series. Sometimes it shows.

Phil Simmons has signed a new two-year contract to extend his term as Ireland coach until the end of the 2015 domestic season

ESPNcricinfo staff07-Dec-2013Phil Simmons has signed a two-year contract to extend his tenure as Ireland coach until the end of the 2015 domestic season.Simmons, a former West Indies allrounder who took over as Ireland coach following the 2007 World Cup, guided them during a period of unprecedented success. Under Simmons, Ireland qualified for six consecutive global events, and won nine trophies including three ICC World Twenty20 Qualifiers, two Intercontinental Cups, the 2008 European Championships, 2009 ICC Trophy, 2010 World Cricket League Division One title and the 2012 World Cricket League Championship. He will have a chance to add to that collection next week, when Ireland take on Afghanistan in the Intercontinental Cup final in Dubai.”It wasn’t a difficult decision to agree a further two years,” Simmons said. “I love Ireland and the people, who have a similar outlook to life as West Indians. The team has been very successful, but importantly for me, they are still hungry for success and willing to learn and improve all the time.”We still have a long way to go and it’s an exciting period to be involved with Irish cricket, both on and off the field. We’re putting in place foundations that will serve the sport well in the generations to come.”There’s always been quality in the Irish team, but we’re adding genuine depth which can be seen now in the players who aren’t in the squad. It’s certainly made selection meetings a lot longer though.”We’ve dominated at Associate level and now have ambitions to take the game in Ireland to the next level with our desire to become a Test nation by 2020. We’re on course to meet the challenges and targets that have been set, and I’m delighted to be part of that set-up”Cricket Ireland chief executive Warren Deutrom was upbeat after securing the deal. “We are delighted that Phil will be staying with us for at least another two years. It is obvious that he has been one of the main catalysts for the continued success not just of the squad, but also of Irish cricket itself, that is now generally regarded as the country’s fastest-growing sport,” he said. “Like us, he believes that this team is capable of great things both in limited-overs cricket and, eventually, in the Test arena and his passion for the Irish cause remains undimmed.”Irrespective that Phil is already the longest-serving coach at this level, it didn’t require much persuasion for him to remain at the helm of a squad that he continues to lead with enormous skill and conspicuous success.”

A barrage of brutal hitting from Aaron Finch, Jos Buttler and Ben Rohrer helped the Melbourne Renegades romp to a 57-run victory over the Brisbane Heat

The Report by Alex Malcolm30-Dec-2013
Scorecard and ball-by-ball detailsA barrage of brutal hitting from Aaron Finch, Jos Buttler and Ben Rohrer helped the Melbourne Renegades romp to a 57-run victory over the Brisbane Heat in the Big Bash League.With England 4-0 down in the Ashes series, Buttler’s 61 from 36 balls was a rare sighting in Australia of an England player middling the ball and smiling broadly.Aaron Finch set up the Melbourne Renegades with his 51-ball 81•Getty ImagesIn the city where England threw away a dominant position to lose the fourth Test at the MCG, Buttler pronounced that the future is not unmitigated gloom for England.Buttler is expected to keep wicket for England in the forthcoming one-day series against Australia. Although England have ambitions for him to develop into a Test batsman, his all-round skills were not enough to dislodge the much-maligned Jonny Bairstow as reserve wicketkeeper in England’s Ashes squad.Heat, the defending champions were never really in the hunt as the Renegades trio thumped 11 fours and 11 sixes between them on their way to posting 3 for 210 after winning the toss.Finch was unsure of the quality of the dry drop-in surface at Etihad Stadium when the coin fell his way, but he and Buttler made batting look easy after taking their time to settle.The pair came together at the fall of Alex Doolan in the fifth over and showed opposing stand-in captain, Daniel Vettori, immense respect by nudging just nine runs from his first two overs as the total crawled to 1 for 53 after eight overs.The introduction of Nathan Hauritz saw Finch flick the switch. He slog swept the off-spinner for consecutive sixes to kick-start a tit-for-tat hitting competition between the two T20 internationals.Hauritz did not bowl again as Buttler and Finch combined for 108 runs off just 64 balls. The powerful right-handers clubbed Cameron Gannon, Daniel Christian and Ben Cutting to all corners of the stadium.Vettori was forced to bring himself back earlier than expected to remove Buttler in his 16th over. Peter Forrest held a fluky one-handed catch after misjudging a powerfully struck drive to wide long off to end an entertaining innings from the Englishman.But with Vettori bowled out, Finch and Ben Rohrer lifted to another gear. Finch drilled three boundaries through the offside in the following over before slicing a catch off Christian to fall 19 runs short of his third T20 hundred.Rohrer then smashed 36 runs in 11 deliveries to take the total beyond 200. The left-hander got some help from Alister McDermott, who bowled two full toss no-balls above waist-height, with both of them clearing the rope comfortably. McDermott was not allowed to complete his over, with Cutting being thrown the ball, but the right-armer only proceeded to dish up another full toss that Rohrer thumped into the crowd.The Heat’s chase never really got going. James Pattinson bowled a lively opening spell in his comeback following stress fractures. The Renegades quick forced a leading edge from Craig Kieswetter in the fourth over to start the rot.Luke Pomersbach laboured to 21 from 30 balls when Aaron O’Brien ended his torturous stay. There was no way back for the Heat as O’Brien, Muttiah Muralitharan and Nathan Rimmington strangled the middle order.Five sweetly struck sixes from Cutting ensured the scoreboard remained respectable, but he fell to one of several high-class outfield catches, which along with the two run outs, backed up the excellent bowling performance.

A round-up of the Premier League Tournament matches that ended on March 10, 2014

Andrew Fidel Fernando10-Mar-2014Super EightsMoors Sports Club left-arm spinner Malinda Pushpakumara’s first-innings five-wicket haul cleared the path for a 236-run win over Ports Authority Cricket Club, that moved Moors to the top of the Super Eights table. Having chosen to bat first, Moors’ lower-middle order contributed heavily to their first innings total of 311, with captain Janaka Gunaratne hitting 88 and no. 9 Irosh Samarasooriya scoring 53.Ports Authority had already slipped to 100 for 4 when Pushpakumara sparked the collapse proper, taking four of the last six wickets, which fell for 36. No Ports Authority batsman had mustered more than 26, as they conceded a lead of 175.Moors’ tail wagged again, after no. 4 Harsha Cooray had hit 66 in the second innings. The last-wicket pair of Suresh Niroshan and Pushpakumara put on 80 together to help set a Ports Authority a target of 437 in the final innings. Ports Authority lost five wickets in the 47 overs they faced on day three, before they were wiped out in less than 22 overs on the final day. They had offered a little more resistance in the second dig, as Gayan Maneeshan hit an unbeaten fifty.Legspinner Jeffrey Vandersay and opener Dimuth Karunaratne ensured Sinhalese Sports Club comfortably took first innings points in their match against Army Sports Club, but Army’s vastly improved batting in the second innings ensured the match would end in a draw.Vandersay took a career-best haul of 7 for 77 in the first-innings, as SSC took control following Army’s 70-run opening stand. Army would lose six wickets for 38 – with four of those scalps going to Vandersay – before Rishan Kavinga mounted a 51-run resistance alongside Chatura Damith. Vandersay wiped out the tail by the 55th over, as Army ended on 189.Karunaratne’s 142 set up SSC’s 246-run first innings lead, as he continued to display his appetite for the kind of large domestic scores that have so far eluded him in Tests. Half-centuries from Dasun Shanaka, Thilina Kandamby and Charith Jayampathi helped expand SSC’s total to 435. Spinners Seeekkuge Prasanna and Lakshan Madushanka took four wickets apiece for Army.Manjula de Zoysa’s 120 from 361 balls formed the centrepiece of Army’s resistance as they successfully batted for a draw. Their vigil began late on day two and lasted until well into day four, as opener Mohammad Feshal and Kavinga also contributed innings of significant longevity. Everyone but the wicketkeeper bowled for SSC, but only seam-bowler Upul Bandara proved penetrative in their 173.3 overs in the field.Colombo Cricket Club achieved their first Super Eights win, defeating Ragama Cricket Club by seven wickets in a low-scorer that ended in three days. Ragama may have erred by batting first on a surface that proved prosperous for the opposition seamers. CCC’s fast men Dilesh Gunaratne and Chaturanga Kumara instigated a rolling collapse, taking three wickets each before left-arm chinaman bowler Lakshan Rangika arrived to wipe the innings out at 107.Ragama’s seam bowlers could not be as effective however, as they relied on spinners Sajeewa Weerakoon and Malinga Bandara to deliver most of their breakthroughs. Indika de Saram ensured CCC would have a healthy first-innings lead, hitting 91 out of the team’s 218 runs.Gunaratne took five more wickets in the second innings as Ragama found more resolve with the bat, hitting a match-high total of 248, thanks in part to Ian Daniel’s 68. They had lost too much ground in the first dig however, and CCC chased down 138 in 25 overs. Lasith Abeyratne hit an unbeaten 67.Nondescripts Cricket Club claimed first-innings points, but only three innings were possible in their draw against Tamil Union Cricket Club. In a match in which no other batsmen managed triple figures, NCC’s Jehan Mubarak hit a hundred in each innings to move to the top of the season’s run-scorers’ list, with 862 at an average of 95.77. Mubarak, 33, has now scored a double ton, three centuries and a fifty in his last seven first-class innings.Kosala Kulasekara and Tharindu Kaushal also hit fifties in NCC’s first-innings total of 436. NCC had been 145 for 4 before Mubarak strung together sizeable stands with the lower middle order. Kulasekara and Kaushal also put on 107 for the seventh wicket, while spinners TN Sampath and Ramith Rambukwella shared seven wickets for Tamil Union.Kaushal collected another bagful of wickets in Tamil Union’s innings, completing his third five-wicket haul of the season as the opposition fell 103 runs short of NCC’s first-innings score. Jeevan Mendis was stranded on 98 when Mubarak took the final wicket, with Rumesh Buddika also having hit a half-century earlier in the innings.Niroshan Dickwella and Pawan Wickramasinghe struck fifties as Mubarak ended unbeaten on 112 – the same score he had achieved in he first innings. The match was called off when NCC had hit 304 for 6.Plate ChampionshipBadureliya Sports Club defeated Panadura Sports Club by four wickets in a low-scoring match that featured only two scores over 50. Left-arm seamer Thilan Thushara took four wickets for 25 as Panadura collapsed to 101 in the first innings, before a 75 from Badureliya’s Hans Fernando helped establish a 120-run lead.Opener Malith Chathuranga’s 63 would form the basis of a better Panadura batting performance in the second innings, but they could set Badureliya only 78 for victory, which was achieved despite a top-order collapse in the fourth innings.Colts Cricket Club inflicted an innings and 44-run victory over Chilaw Marians Cricket Club to embed themselves at the top of the table, with three wins from three. Colts opening bowlers Ishan Jayaratne and Kanishka Alvitigala shared five wickets as Marians slumped to 55 for 5, before Sachith Pathirana wiped out the tail.Roshen Silva led the Colts response, with Bhanuka Rajapaksa contributing 82 and Angelo Jayasinghe hitting 70. Colts’ 418 secured a lead of 290. Pathirana then took a five-for to finish with nine from the match, as the opening bowlers shared the remaining wickets. Fifties for Geeth Kumara and Umesh Karunaratne only delayed Colts’ victory.Bloomfield Cricket and Athletic Club defeated Air Force Sports Club by 176 runs, thanks in large-part to a nine-wicket haul for left-arm spinner Chatura Randunu. Fast-bowler Vishwa Fernando also took a five-wicket haul for Bloomfield, helping set up their 110-run first-innings lead.Half-centuries from Nadeera Nawela and Madawa Warnapura were the largest contributions in Bloomfield’s first-innings score of 278, before Fernando and Randunu were set upon the Air Force batsmen. They dismissed the opposition inside 37 overs in the first innings, and 45 overs in the second innings. Left-arm spinner Lahiru Sri Lakmal had taken six wickets for Air Force in the first innings.

India will want to forget off-field worries, Bangladesh will want to bring them onto the field. India can seal the semi-final spot if West Indies and India win their matches on Friday

The Preview by Sidharth Monga27-Mar-20141:07

Crowe: India need a tough game

March 28, 2014
Start time 1930 local (1330 GMT)Big pictureSimilarities between last year’s Champions Trophy and this World T20 were a thought before the tournament began, but two India matches later it seems this is exactly identical. Even as India have – against whatever trends you can develop in Twenty20 games – done extremely well, in two days the Supreme Court of India has turned the heat on the Indian cricket administration.This time last year MS Dhoni had a series of question marks against him through his involvement with India Cements, whose managing director had saved his job, but he managed to ward away all evil with a stunning Champions Trophy win. The questions are back, this time with much more force, as a day before India’s third match in World T20 the Supreme Court heard from prosecution that Dhoni had lied under oath in trying to maintain distance between Chennai Super Kings and Guruanth Meiyappan, who used team information for illegal betting.Questions aplenty for MS Dhoni and Yuvraj Singh•Associated PressOn the field, though, two exceptional days with the ball have made sure India are within striking distance of progression to the semi-finals. In fact, even before they start their third match – never mind more wrath of the court anticipated in the morning – if West Indies beat Australia in the afternoon, India will be all but through to the next round. All they will need to do after that is beat Bangladesh, who will be desperate to prove that phrases such as “all the opposition has to do” are not used in the same sentence as “beat Bangladesh”.After getting the hopes of the home crowds up by beating Afghanistan emphatically, the hosts have brought much pain to the crowds by losing to Hong Kong and tamely so to West Indies. In four matches, not a single batsman has batted long enough to score a fifty, catches have been dropped regularly, and ground fielding has been poor. You cannot expect to win playing in that manner. Bangladesh once compounded India’s off-field misery when they beat them in the World Cup in 2007 to bring to an end the controversial tenure of Greg Chappell. If they are to do something similar here, we will need a team unrecognisable from the one that has taken the field in the last two matches.Form guide (most recent first)Bangladesh LLWWL
India WWWWLWatch out forThese are times when you look for talismans. Bangladesh’s for a long time has been Shakib Al Hasan. Since the last World T20, he has averaged 37.33 with the bat and 8.50 with the ball. Bangladesh will need him to carry them if tables are to be turned.The heat is on on Yuvraj Singh, who dropped another catch and gave India a few nervous moments with his 19-ball 10 in an otherwise easy chase against West Indies. He has enjoyed the confidence of his captain and his team-mates, but does the rope run long enough to survive another failure?Team newsNasir Hossain is likely to come back after his axing failed to improve the general batting standards, but Mahmudullah could keep his place despite two dropped catches against West Indies. Shamsur Rahman is likely to play too. Mashrafe Mortaza did the pre-match press conference, but as always his place in the team can’t be confirmed till the last minute due to his side strain and rib injury.Bangladesh 1 Tamim Iqbal, 2 Anamul Haque, 3 Mominul Haque, 4 Shakib Al Hasan, 5 Mushfiqur Rahim (capt. & wk), 6 Shamsur Rahman/Sabbir Rahman, 7 Nasir Hossain/Mahmudullah, 8 Ziaur Rahman, 9 Sohag Gazi, 10 Mashrafe Mortaza, 11 Al-Amin HossainIndia have no pressing reason to make a change now that they have shown confidence in Yuvraj in public.India (possible) 1 Shikhar Dhawan, 2 Rohit Sharma, 3 Virat Kohli, 4 Suresh Raina, 5 Yuvraj Singh, 6 MS Dhoni (capt. & wk), 7 Ravindra Jadeja, 8 R Ashwin, 9 Amit Mishra, 10 Bhuvneshwar Kumar, 11 Mohammed ShamiStats and trivia Yuvraj Singh is the only Indian to have won more than two Man-of-the-Match awards. In just three appearances for India, Amit Mishra has joined five other Indians on two match awards. Bhuvneshwar Kumar’s figures of 3-0-3-0 were the joint-most economical for three or more overs in a Twenty20 international. Take out Zimbabwe, and West Indies are the only big-time team that Bangladesh have beaten in T20Is.Quotes”We lost the two games pretty disappointingly. We want to play well, fight as much as we can. We will play to win for sure, but above everything else, we have to start well.”
“First priority is to win the match and get the [net] run-rate aspect out of the equation. If we win, net run-rate will be automatically taken care of.”

Pakistan’s conditional support for the ICC revamp hinges on the promise of six series against India, including a ‘home’ series in the Middle East as part of an upcoming, reworked eight-year FTP cycle

Umar Farooq13-Apr-2014Pakistan’s conditional support for the ICC revamp hinges on the promise of six series against India, including a ‘home’ series in the Middle East as part of an upcoming, reworked eight-year FTP cycle from 2015 to 2023, ESPNcricinfo has learnt.The change in the PCB’s stance has taken place on the condition that Pakistan would be involved in bilateral series against all Full Members, including India. If Indo-Pak series are officially slotted into the eight-year FTP, it could also involve a ‘home’ series for Pakistan against India in the United Arab Emirates.The PCB is now waiting for a final confirmation from the BCCI following its Working Committee meeting, which the PCB have been informed, is expected to take place in the next 15 days. It will then enable the PCB to work out a long-term broadcasting deal with regular India series at its centre.The PCB’s opposition to the ICC’s original position paper that recommended a remodeling of the ICC’s administrative structure and its revenue distribution rested on the argument that it was against the principle of “equality.” However, following certain changes in the resolutions, as well as the possibility of playing India frequently led PCB to support the governance, finance and FTP changes in the ICC, which was driven entirely by the BCCI, ECB and Cricket Australia.ESPNcricinfo understands that all the nine member boards have confirmed their earlier commitments with PCB until 2020 and are chalking out a fresh plan for the period from 2020 to 2023.The BCCI could look to slot in as many as six series against Pakistan, due to the gaps that are available in the existing FTP calendar. The first of these bilateral series could take place in the UAE in the winter of 2015. “Cricket between both countries is beneficial as the Pakistan government is also keen to revive ties with India on a high note,” PCB chairman Najam Sethi said on Friday following the two-day ICC board meeting in Dubai.India and Pakistan have not played a full series since the 2008 terror attacks in Mumbai, which India blamed on militants based across the border. However, Pakistan visited India for a short limited-over series in December 2012, but despite not getting any revenue out of the series, it was regarded as a stepping stone in reviving cricketing ties between both countries.Since July 2013, Pakistan have been without a long-term broadcasting deal, one of the major sources of income for the PCB. The PCB already had to deal with a long-standing budget-deficit, which in August 2013, was calculated at nearly PKR 500 million. The PCB estimates that after committing to the ICC revamp, the financial benefits could reach PKR 30 billion from the bilateral ties, the major chunk of which will be earned from hosting India.

Lancashire made their highest score of the season so far but Yorkshire, led by Jack Brooks’ five-wicket haul, fought hard after losing Ryan Sidebottom to injury

Graham Hardcastle at Headingley26-May-2014
ScorecardPaul Horton dug in once again for Lancashire as they secured three batting points for the firs time this year•Getty ImagesAfter only 28 overs were possible on Sunday, from which Lancashire reached 87 for 2, their assistant coach Gary Yates described the state of the game as honours even. After an enthralling second day, things don’t seem to have changed much, despite a second five-wicket haul of the summer for the effervescent Jack Brooks.You could argue a case for either side being the happier at the halfway stage of this match. Lancashire’s 325 all out represented their highest score of the season so far and three batting points doubled their season’s tally in their sixth match. For Yorkshire, even though they had won the toss, they had to fight back from the visitors being 127 for 2 and had to do it without one of their most influential bowlers, Ryan Sidebottom, who was off the field for the final two sessions and a bit with a sore left hamstring.If you believe the weather forecasters – and there are plenty of people who don’t – then we will not see another ball bowled in this match.Brooks has been excellent so far this season, his second at Headingley. He has 26 wickets and only Steven Finn with 29 has taken more in Division One. Brooks has accounted for 20 wickets on this ground, including eight against his former county Northamptonshire last month.Liam Plunkett has gained more plaudits for his hostility on the way to 19 scalps as part of Yorkshire’s much-admired seam attack, but Brooks’s pitch-it-up style has led the way with vigour. He deserves plenty of credit and possibly more recognition.Three of his wickets were bowled, including innings top-scorer Paul Horton without offering a shot for 66 before lunch, while another was caught at second slip. His fifth wicket was a gift – Kabir Ali caught at point. Plunkett added a season’s best 4 for 74 to Brooks’s 5 for 90.Horton and Tom Smith, with 54 from No. 7, both batted with great caution, although Glen Chapple and Kyle Hogg were more pugnacious in a successful bid to recover the score from 183 for 6 just after lunch. Smith and Chapple shared 68 for the seventh wicket to take the score beyond 250 before Hogg’s 50-ball unbeaten 47 secured an unprecedented third batting point.Yorkshire encountered few alarms in their reply before rained prevented the last 8.5 overs of the day being bowled.Not only did Yorkshire come out of the day with an injury scare, Lancashire did too. Their experienced batsman Ashwell Prince, in his final season of first-class cricket, battled a back injury during his 56-ball stay at the crease before lunch.Yorkshire’s coach, Jason Gillespie, said they would take a cautious approach to Sidebottom’s muscle problem. “Siddy’s just felt something at the bottom of his hamstring, so it will be an ongoing assessment of that,” he said. “We will make a decision on whether we need to get him scanned and we’ll probably know more tomorrow and make a plan from there.”At this stage it looks like a little tweak and we don’t think it’s serious. But we’ve got to look after him. With Siddy being such an important member of our squad, the leader of our attack, we want to make sure he’s 100 percent.”

Lou Vincent, the former New Zealand batsman, has publicly accepted that he fixed matches

ESPNcricinfo staff01-Jul-2014Lou Vincent, the former New Zealand batsman, has publicly accepted involvement in fixing. In a statement sent to media outlets across New Zealand, he called himself a “cheat” and said he had shamed cricket and his country through his actions.In May, Vincent had been charged on 14 offences related to fixing in county cricket, and was given a life ban by the ECB on Tuesday.”My name is Lou Vincent and I am a cheat,” he said. “I have abused my position as a professional sportsman on a number of occasions by choosing to accept money through fixing.”0:37

‘Vincent is facing a tough couple of months’ – Broad

Vincent’s name was first linked with an ICC Anti-corruption and security unit (ACSU) match-fixing investigation last December. Two months later, he admitted being approached by an illegal bookmaker during the 2013 Bangladesh Premier League. After charges were laid by the ECB in May, he expected further charges relating to his appearances for Auckland Aces in the Champions League. He was subsequently banned for life from participating in the Champions League after pleading guilty to seven charges related to spot-fixing.”I have shamed my country. I have shamed my sport. I have shamed those close to me. For that I am not proud. I lost faith in myself and the game. I abused the game I love. I had to put things right. Speaking out. Exposing the truth. Laying bare the things I have done wrong is the only way I can find to begin to put things right.”Vincent apologised for his actions and thanked his partner Susie for helping him face the truth. “Today is the day I offer my deepest apologies to the public and the cricketing world, to the loyal fans, to the dedicated coaches, staff and all players past and present.”I apologise to the and thank the ACSU for their help and support, which is out there for all players and it has helped me a great deal.”As long back as 2008, Vincent was struggling with depression but he refused to lay blame the conditions for his actions. “The people who know me know I am vulnerable. But they also know I am not stupid and that I know what is right and what is wrong. I do suffer from depression but it is absolutely no reason or excuse for all that I have done wrong.”

Sixteen wickets tumbled on the first day – all to the seamers – at the Country Club in Harare but it was the hosts Zimbabwe A who had their noses in front

ESPNcricinfo staff27-Jul-2014
ScorecardFile photo – Luke Jongwe remained unbeaten on 50 and took two wickets•ICCSixteen wickets tumbled on the first day – all to the seamers – at the Country Club in Harare but it was the hosts Zimbabwe A who had their noses in front. Afghanistan were sent crashing to 105 but there was more drama in store as Zimbabwe A were reeling at 30 for 5 at one stage. However, an unbeaten 50 from Luke Jongwe saved the hosts the embarrassment of tumbling for a lesser score.It was a combined bowling effort by Zimbabwe A after winning the toss, with Tendai Chatara leading the way with a five-wicket haul. Only three Afghanistan batsmen scored in double figures, with Rahmat Shah top scoring with 27. Michael Chinouya, Tendai Manatsa and Jongwe shared the other five wickets to end the innings in just 47.1 overs.Afghanistan’s Yamin Ahmadzai jolted the hosts’ top order by removing Brian Chari, Sikandar Raza and Mark Vermeulen by the ninth over. Zimbabwe A were in tatters at 16 for 4 and in the 13th over, they had already lost half their side. Jongwe and captain Regis Chakabva added 45 for the sixth wicket before Chakabva fell for 32, caught off Fareed Ahmad.Jongwe batted positively, hitting seven boundaries and a six to help his side take the lead. Jongwe and John Nyumbu put on an unbroken 60, the highest stand of the day, to give the hosts a slender lead.